This is something that you don’t come across every day; a metal band from South Africa. Its an interesting first for me (at least I think it’s a first). Even though they hail from a country not known as one of the metal hot spots of the world, these guys certainly have their shit together. According to the band, Sacraphyx started out as a more thrash oriented group in 1993 and have progressed to the more technical Sepultura meets Meshuggah sound. I will agree with them there. They certainly have the a Mesultura thing going on. Eighth Day is the bands first full length CD available to the public after releasing demos entitled Blinded in 1995 and Disincarnate in 1997.

Eighth Day clocks in at a little over 42 minutes and contains 9 songs of thrashy, technical groove death. How's that for a description? "Psycho" opens things up with a straight ahead thrash tune with just a hint of the eccentric Meshuggah sound. Vocalist Tom Stewart sounds a good bit like Max Cavalera (ex Sepultura, Soulfly) from his days with Sepultura when he was still a metalhead and not a rapper. The band follow with an equally strong track titled "AYU" which is more straight ahead thrash track. Great tune. Other strong tracks include "Nine Years and Nine Seconds" and the scorching CD closer "Born of the Dark" which is much more straight ahead Death Metal song than anything on the disc.

Sacraphyx have been together for about 8 years so its no surprise that they have their act together. In their native South Africa they are quite a draw at festival time and have headlined many tours. Vocalist Tom Stewart definitely has the Max Cavalera impression down to a T. Sacraphyx are only half a world away from making a dent in the metal scene.